Young present color and fins pattern strikingly different than that of adults: White with black streaks and marks; pelvic and dorsal fin greatly elongate. The adults have several large horizontal dark bands, almost joined over a pale background and the fins are rather short (compared to young). Young of about 15 mm are already settled at the reef. There is suspicion that the larvae of this fish may lack pelagic stage (Leis, 1991).

Justification:
This species is widely distributed and considered common in many parts of its range, especially in areas with reef structure. It is collected for the aquarium trade throughout its range, but this is not considered a major threat. Therefore, it is listed as Least Concern.

This species is distributed in the western Atlantic from North Carolina south along the U.S., the Bahamas, throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, and along South America to Santa Catarina, Brazil (Carvalho-Filho et al. 2008, B. Ferreira pers. comm. 2009, R. Robertson pers. comm. 2014). Records from Bermuda are not representative of a native population (Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999).

This species is common in many parts of its range, especially near shallow coral reefs. It is reported in most studies using UVC on inshore coral reefs (A. Carvalho-Filho, C. Sampaio and B. Ferreira pers. comm. 2009). Off southern Florida (USA),it is uncommon to rare (Bryan et al. 2013). Off Texas, it is uncommon and only known from juvenile records taken during the summer over hard bottom structures such as jetties (J. Tolan pers. comm. 2014). It is common, but not abundant off Mexico (M. Vega-Cendejas pers. comm. 2013).

This species occurs over sandy or muddy bottoms in coastal waters and near reef structure to about 60 m depth. McEachran (2009) reports it to 110 m. It is typically found in small groups beneath rock ledges by day. Juveniles occur in coastal lagoons. It has a very short larval phase and may lack a pelagic larval phase (Salle 1991). It feeds on benthic invertebrates and zooplankton.

This species occurs in the aquarium trade and mixed reef fish artisanal catch. It is the most important sciaenid in the Brazilian aquarium trade. Recorded catch for this aquarium trade was 233,469 individuals in 6,968 landings. It is occasionally reared in captivity (A. Carvalho-Filho, C. Sampaio and B. Ferreira pers. comm. 2009).

There are no known major threats. It is collected for the aquarium trade in many parts of its range, especially juveniles. It is also caught as by-catch in artisanal trap fisheries. Reefs often subjected to sedimentation and other types of degradation may represent a localized threat (A. Carvalho-Filho, C. Sampaio, B. Ferreira pers. comm. 2009). It may be susceptible to lionfish predation.

This species is listed under the Instrução Normativa n° 202 which sets quotas for capture of ornamental fish in Brazil. The capture of 1,000 individuals is permitted for this species per year per company (trader). More research is needed to determine the impact of reef degradation and exploitation on its population.